I spent five years at Forbes writing about business and leadership, attracting nearly one million unique visitors to Forbes.com each month. While here, I assistant edited the annual World’s 100 Most Powerful Women package and helped launch and grow ForbesWoman.com. I've appeared on CBS, CNBC, MSNBC and E Entertainment and speak often at conferences and events on women's leadership topics. I graduated summa cum laude from New York University with degrees in journalism and sociology and was honored with a best in business award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) in 2012. My work has appeared in Businessweek, Ladies’ Home Journal, The Aesthete and Acura Style. I live in New York City with my husband and can be found on Twitter @Jenna_Goudreau, Facebook, and Google+.

“Boy toy!” I shout triumphantly, referencing a recent dig by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who made headlines after calling Jackson her “boy toy.” She just laughs and shrugs her shoulders.

This isn’t unusual for Buss. Her life can be difficult to describe. The 49-year-old EVP of business operations is one of few powerful women in sports management, yet by her own admission is “not a pioneer.” She reports to her dad, Lakers owner Jerry Buss. He appointed her as general manager of his tennis team, the LA Strings, at just 19 while she was studying for her business degree from USC. She later became president of former Lakers arena, the Forum, and then was named to her current post in 1999. The woman who will likely inherit this storied franchise devoted herself to her career, never had children, posed for Playboy at 32 and accidentally fell in love with the team’s coach 10 years ago.

Buss recently published a book, Laker Girl, to answer the oft-asked question: What’s a typical day-in-the-life? When she isn’t rubbing elbows with celebrities like Ryan Seacrest and Khloe Kardashian or inking deals with promoters, she’s offering feedback from the fans—35,000 of which follow her on Twitter. She’s so popular with fans, in fact, that she was once asked to take a picture with some while getting her annual mammogram.

I pulled Buss aside to ask some questions of my own.

Forbes: You work for your father, with your siblings and you’re dating the team’s coach. Does that get complicated?

Buss: It gets complicated. I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody. Don’t do it. [laughing] Unfortunately, and I’m sure many people can relate to this, the only people that you meet are the ones you meet through work. Because otherwise, who has the time? I really wasn’t expecting to fall so hard for Phil. As a matter of fact, when my dad said he was talking to Phil Jackson about him coming to LA to coach the Lakers, I tried to argue against it. Phil had been in Chicago for so many years with such success, I felt that he would come in as a big personality. We already had two really big personalities in Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. I felt that Phil would disrupt that. Thankfully, my dad doesn’t listen to me for basketball decisions.

When Phil and I met and we realized there was something there between us, I told him that I wasn’t interested in having an affair with him and didn’t want to be sneaking around. If we were going to date, it had to be with full disclosure to the organization because I wouldn’t compromise my position or the business. That’s what was important for the success of the relationship, as well as the comfort that it gave the other people that work here.

Is it difficult to keep business from becoming too personal?

It definitely permeates my entire life–all day and all night. But thankfully the Lakers have been so successful that winning cures a lot of headaches. That’s why I have a dog. I come home to her, and she couldn’t care less if the Lakers win or lose. That always puts things in perspective. You live and work with Phil but have no plans to marry. Why not?

I wanted to get married. That’s who I am. Phil is of a generation that probably would have been happier never getting married. He just doesn’t want to get married again; it’s not that he doesn’t want to marry me. It took me awhile to understand that, and I’m fine with it now. We’ve been together over 10 years. This relationship has been my longest and most successful. So I’m very happy. You don’t have second thoughts?

Because he’s older than I am and I’ll probably be around longer, I worry about my relationship with his kids. He has five grown children and seven grandkids. It’s like when Gayle [King] said that we need to come up with a better name for people in long-term relationships. To his grandkids, I’m just Jeanie. I don’t have a secured place in the family. What about your role with the Lakers? Do you think you’ll take over for your dad eventually?

My dad has set it up so that my older brother Jimmy manages the basketball side, and I manage the business side. I like to say that I create the revenue and he gets to spend it. All my other siblings have positions in the Lakers too. I think this team will stay in the family. I will continue to play my role.

You’re one of very few powerful women in the sports business, and yet you say in your book that you’re ‘not a pioneer.’ What did you mean by that?

I’ve had many great women mentors, including [tennis legend] Billie Jean King and Claire Rothman, who ran the Forum until 1995 and also ran the Philadelphia Spectrum. So I don’t think I really should be thought of as a ‘pioneer.’ Maybe it would be different if I had gotten the job by applying for it. I’d always wanted to work in the family business. I can’t say that I grew up saying, Someday I want to be vice president of the Lakers, because that’s not how it happened. I work for our family business, and that happens to be the Lakers.

You also write that some businessmen try to use gender as a means of advancing their agendas. How so?

Especially in our business, it’s competitive. Everyone’s looking for the upper hand in a negotiation. If they think that gender is something that they can exploit to intimidate you, they’ll use it. I am here to say that there is no drawback to being a woman in business. But if you think it’s a drawback, then it probably does work against you. It’s like playing poker. People will look for your weak spot, and your weak spot is only what you allow it to be.

There was one time when I was in a room with eight or so people, and there was a heated discussion. One man was making a point and used a four-letter word. Then, he stopped, turned specifically to me, and said, ‘I’m sorry, young lady.’ It was only to draw attention to the fact that I was young and the only woman in the room, as if maybe I shouldn’t even belong there. I said, ‘Excuse me, if you are going to apologize, then apologize to everyone in the room because your language is offensive to everybody.’ You have to diffuse it.

What’s something that people might not know about you?

I don’t cook. I’m on the shy side. I’d love to go to a stand-up comedian camp because I struggle with it. Being able to make people laugh is a powerful tool. I posed for Playboy once. You’d think that doesn’t match a shy personality, but it was a great turning point for me.

Posing for Playboy is pretty atypical of a business executive. Were you worried it would hurt your career?

I didn’t do it because I was an executive. I didn’t do it as part of my business plan. My dad owned a Playboy club. He was very good friends with Hugh Hefner. Playboy has been part of my family. I was 32 years old when I posed in Playboy. As you get older, you don’t want to do stuff based on what others dictate to you. Had I decided I couldn’t do Playboy because others didn’t approve, that would haunt me. No regrets?

Before I did it, I got the advice that it doesn’t go away and you have to be prepared for that. In the early ‘90s, nobody knew the power of the Internet. So I’m happy I did it, but I didn’t realize how accessible the pictures would be forever.

What’s next on your agenda? Is there a TV show in the works?

Maybe there will be something like that. In terms of business, it’s no secret that our collective bargaining agreement with the NBA players is coming up for renewal. I’m hopeful we’ll come to terms. We are also in the midst of extending our broadcast agreement. On a personal level, Phil may be retiring after this season. Only he knows what he’s going to do next and whether he’s going to stay in LA. If he does stay in LA with nothing to do, he’ll drive me insane. He knows that this is my career, so I’m not going anywhere.

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